Best High end laptop

[whitewizard]

Can’t decide between these laptops
1. HP Pavilion dv6-2060ea
Processor core i7 1.6 GHz, GT 230, 1366x766, 4GB DDR3
2. Dell XPS 16
Processor core i7 1.6 GHz, 1GB ATI HD4670 4GB DDR3, Full HD resolution
3. HP HDX X16-1310EA
Processor P7350, Full HD resolution, GT130 M, 4GB DDR2

1_What is your budget?
£800-£1000

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15.4” – 16.4”

3_What screen resolution do you want?
Full HD 1920x1080

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Desktop Replacement Laptop

5_How much battery life do you need?
2-3 Hrs

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low, Medium, High)?
Crysis, Call of Duty 2 Modern Warfare, Prince of Persia, Need for Speed Shift all high settings.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, watching movies, Etc.)
All of them

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
200 – 400gb

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
Any UK Based. Dell.co.uk, laptopsdirect.co.uk etc.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
5 years

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer, Blu ray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Blu Ray Reader

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
HP and Sony because they use better parts and are more reliable. Dell was not very reliable as I heard it from a friend but that was 2 years from now don’t about now. Acer is not preferred cannot rely on it

13_What country do you live in?
United Kingdom

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Between these three laptops there is a choice between core i7 vs p7350 and HP vs Dell. Full HD vs 1366x766 and also between DDR3 vs DDR2. Please can you help me compare these parts.

I want to buy a high end gaming and multimedia laptop which last for at least 4 years.

 

[Maziar]

XPS 16 is a good choice,it has HD 4670 which can handle those games but not all on high,for example you can't run crysis at high,you have to lower the settings,so for NFS shift,HD 4670 is a mid range card that can handle games at medium settings,and between those 3 notebooks i will choose XPS because HD 4670 > GT 230 > GT 130M

 

[whitewizard]

What about the built quality and problems which come up after a year or two with Dell as compared to HP. And wht about GT280 is it any better. If i want to choose between Full Hd screen and a better graphics card what should i choose.

 

[Maziar]

With your budget i don't think you can find any laptops with GTX 280M,also XPS 16 has got good reviews and its build quality is fine,between Full HD and better graphics it depends on the specs of the graphic card.

 

[whitewizard]

With your budget i don't think you can find any laptops with GTX 280M,also XPS 16 has got good reviews and its build quality is fine,between Full HD and better graphics it depends on the specs of the graphic card.

Thanks for your reply... What about heat issues with Dell XPS 16 as compared to HP.....

 

[Maziar]

http/www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4764&p=2
Heat and Noise

If the Studio XPS 16 has an Achilles' Heel it might be heat. Our review unit gets quite hot whenever the processor or graphics card are working hard. After running multiple benchmarks and watching 30 minutes of a Blu-Ray movie the Studio XPS 16 got uncomfortably hot ... the kind of heat that will make your legs sweat under your jeans. Granted, our test configuration has a powerful processor and dedicated graphics card that can both generate significant heat, but the system fan just didn't seem to pull heat away from the notebook. Bottom line, if you are sensative to laptop heat then high-end configurations of this notebook might be a little too hot to use as a "laptop." The temperatures listed below are in degrees Fahrenheit.

http/www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3540&p=11
We didn't create any charts, but we wanted to give a quick rundown of the temperatures you might expect from the Studio XPS 16. We placed a maximum load on the system for 30 minutes and then measured temperatures, so these results are something of a worst-case scenario. Then again, the testing environment was only 67°F, so in warmer conditions it might not be as difficult to make things toasty. We have heard some complaints from users about the XPS 16 getting excessively hot; we wouldn't go that far, but it definitely doesn't run cool to the touch all the time.

We measured temperatures of ~45°C at the exhaust, which isn't too bad. However, temperatures on the bottom of the laptop range from 35° to the 45° as well, with large portions of the bottom measuring above 40°C. The keyboard and palm rest weren't quite as hot, ranging from 30° to 40°C with most of the keyboard staying under 35°. Just to put things in perspective, those temperatures are higher than what we measured on the Toshiba X305-Q725, a result of the smaller chassis with fewer fans.

If you are going to use it on your desk,i think its OK but if you want to put it on your legs then you may want to ignore it.

However there are some good coolers for the XPS 16 too:
http/forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=427111

 

[lostandwandering]

From what I have noticed in personal use, HP's don't seem to be as well cooled as Dell machines. My girlfriend had an HP DV2000 machine that was cooled by a single, small fan. Needless to say, it crapped out on her. HP has had a pretty poor track record with the DV 9000, 6000 and 2000 laptops. All of which have had some pretty serious issues with the motherboards dying due to excessive heat.

 

[Danoman812]

I have to say... I'm very happy with my Alienware M14X. 'Nuff said...

 

[jonathan_569]

If you want a better high end pc that has a much better build quality than HP, check out Toshiba's offering, that is what i could recommend.. HP is overrated and it heats up too much..